The Sun. — London, England, 1864-06-11 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening, The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the wool gal ;it at five o'clock. COUNTY COURTS BILL. The Earl of DERBY presented petitions from places in. Lancashire against this bill. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Earl of Abergavenny Estate—Kilkenny Cathe dna Economy Fund—Downs Dock—London and Brighton a.nil South Coast Railway (new line Battersea)—and Brien ',on and South Coast Railway (Steamboats)—Rammell's Pat 3nt Clyde Navigation Metropolitan Railway (Additic anal Powers)—Metropolitan Railway (Notting-hill Extensiion) —Alton, Alresford, and Winchester Railway bills vere read a second time. The Befast Central Railway—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway—Tendring Hundreds—Ribbles dale Railway—Edinburgh and Glasgow and Alloa Rail way Companies—Okehampton Railway—North and South Western Junction—Stockton and Middlesborough eater —Nottingham Gas, and Lancaster Board of Health bills were read a third:time and passed. THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said owing to the noble earl, the President of the Council, and the noble duke, the First Lord of the Admiralty, not having returned from Windsor, he begged to move the postponement of the con sideration of the first order of the day—viz., her Majesty's message with respect to the pension to the Countess of Elgin, and the grant to Sir R. Hill, until Monday nest. The motion was agreed to. CHAIN CABLES AND ANCHORS BILL. The Earl of HARDWICKE moved the second reading of this bill. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said he entirely approved of the bill, which wo uld prove exceed ingly useful in tending to diminish the great loss of ves sels in the mercantile marine in consequence of the use of defective chain cables. With regard to the e xemption of the Admiralty from the provisions of the bill h e could only say that every chain cab le after it was received from the contractor was properly tested before it was put on board one of her Majesty's ships., The bill was read a second time. INSANE PRISONERS' AMENDMENT BILL. The report of amendments to this bill was brought up and received. CHIMNEY SWEEPERS' REGULATION BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. COURT OF JUSTICIARY (SCOTLAND) BILL. This bill passed through committee. GREENWICH HOSPITAL. The Earl of HARDWICKE called attention to the letter of Sir Richard Bromley to the Duke of Somerset on the ree form of the government of Greenwich Hospital. The noble earl said there was an institution in the'country which was much cherished by the whole nation, and when it was pointed out to foreigners, they were told it was England's gratitude to her worn-out seamen, This institution was, as far as money went, exceedingly wealthy, as it possessed an estate of nearly five millions. This charity, he said, was sick, and had been so for years, and the malady with which it was afflicted was known as the house divided against itself. Public attention had been called to this state of matters by the publication of a letter by Sir Richard Bromley to the First Lord of the Ad miralty respecting a reform in the management of the charity. The gallant writer said that until unanimity pre vailed in the council, a state of matters detrimental to England's worn-out defenders would prevail, and that could only be done by able men being placed at the head of the government of the institution. He hoped the noble lord would inform the public what was intended to be done for the future. The Duke of SOMERSET said he shared in the great desire that the funds of Greenwich Hospital should be properly expended. He did not think that it was well to draw men in middle life away from their families, and crowd them together in a monastic sort of building at Greewich. He did not propose therefore to build model lodging houses forjmarr ied seamen, as the commissioners proposed, or to take other measures which they suggested for attracting and concentrating men at Greenwich. He believed it would be much better to confine the hospital to its original purpose of receiving disabled and helpless sea men. He would also retain the naval schools in connec tion with the hospital, which had worked so well of recent years. He proposed to keep a part of the hospital, so that in case of a great war we might not be without an •, hos pital for our seamen. As to the rest of the building he desired to take some further time to consider what would be the best way to use it. By this means he should find himself in possession of an income over and above that re quired for keeping up the hospital to the extent, for the purposes he had described, of £70,000 or £BO,OOO, which he believed would be far more usefully employed in the grant of pensions on which seamen might live in their native towns, and amongst their own friends, than in keeping them together at Greenwich, where they all said they did not wish to be. By this means moreover, we should be able to encourage and reward the best and most respect.- able class of our seamen, who did not receive any benefit from Greenwich Hospital, which they were strongly dis inclined to enter. He also proposed to abolish the present double government of the hospital, and vest in a single board. Lord COLCLIESFER said that the statement of the noble duke was highly satisfactory-. After akw words from the Earl of SHREWSBURY and the Earl of HARDWICKE, The Earl of DERBY asked if it was intended to divert a certain part of the funds of the hospital to the reward of men who had deserved well of their country. This might be a very desirable object in itself, but he did not think it was consistent with the charter of the hospital under which it was endowed for the benefit of sick and disabled seamen. The Duke of SOMERSET said that he did not intend more than this, that by the adoption of the plan which he proposed they would be able, while distributing the funds of the hospital amongst those for whom it was designed, to encourage a class of seamen whom it was very desirable to encourage, but who, as he had mentioned, would not enter the hospital. After some further conversation the subject dropped, and the house adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.---Last Evening. The SPEAKER took the chair at 4 o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed : London and Seuth Western Railway (North Devon Exten sions)— Uiverscon Gas—and West Sussex Junction Rail way, BELFAS r IMPROVEMENT (No. 2) BILL. • On the motion for the third reading of this bill, Mr MAGUIRE said that he had again to apply to the house fora postponement of this bill. He travelled over the ground that he had originally taken in order to show that there was argument for the postponement of the bill, as a strong feeling existed in Belfast against its provisions, which was developed by the fact that no less than £20,000 had been subscribed by the Protestant as well asthe Roman Catholic party to defeat the measure, which was ob noxious to the inhabitants of Belfast generally. The feeling was that the object of the bill was to en able the Corporation of Belf as t to disfranchise a larger body of the inhabitants. H e contended that a public and not a private bil l was n ecessary in deali ng w i t h the subject of the present measure, which was t3o important to be disposed of by private legislation. Mr. WHITESIDE denied the accuracy of the statement of the hon. T. - Amber for Dungannon (Mr. Magui re) aa to the unpopularity of the bill, the necessity for which he said was admitted by the inhabitants of Belfast, notwithstanding the statement of the hon. member for Dungannon to th e contrary. After some further discussion the amendment was with drawn, and the bill was read a third time and passed. DUBLIN IMPROVEMENT BILL. On the order of the day for the consideration of this bill, Sir B. GROGA.7`.T moved several amendments, and en tered into details to establish the necessity of the course which he advocated. Sir P. O'BRIEN, as having been connected with the corporation of Dablin, vindicated this body from the impli cation of being actuated by any unfair motive in regard t„ ) this bill. After some discussion a division took place on the ques tion of an amendment to the effect that there should be a certain omission from the bill, exempting the corporation from the liabilities specified in the body of the bill. The house divided and the amendment was negatived, the numbers being— For the amendment Against it Majority -5 Ur. VANCE then moved that the bill should be recom mitted, Which led to another discussion and another divi sion. For the amendment Against it .............. Majority -11 The bill Was accordingly considered, and ordered for third reading. GOVERNMENT MANITFA.CTORIES. Mr COBDEN gave notice that on an early day he would draw a tt e ntion to what he considered an extravagant ex penditure on the part of Government in regard to public manufactories. THE CONFERENCE. Mr. DISRA.E LI asked the noble lord at the bead of the Government far some explanation relative to the enapension for a fortnight of the sitting of the Confertn!le. Lord PA.LNIERSTON said that he was not in a posi tion to state to what day the sitting of the Conference was adjourned. Tho time to which the armistice extended was in conformity with the wishes of the Danish Government. Mr D. GRIFFITH asked the First Lord of the Trea sury whether it is understood that no further extension would be pressed Upon Denmark by the British Govern ment in case the Conference should not come to a final agreement within the limits of the additional fortnight to which the duration of the Conference is now extended ? Lord PALMERSTON Was understood to answer in the negative, PRIVATE BILLS. On the order of the day for going into committee of supply, Lord R. CECIL moved that, in the opinion of the house, it was expedient that the duty of ascertaining the facts upon which legislation in respect to private bias was to proceed should be discharged by some tribunal ext ilia; to the house. He contended that there was the strongest n( cessity for the alteration which he proposed. Mr GIBSON admitted that the existing system entailed very arduous duties upon hon. members; still, whatever might be done to meet the objections raised on that ground, it was necessary that there should be an ultimate appeal to Parliament. He did not believe that dissatisfaction existed out of doors at the decisions of committees, and he feared that if any suggestion such as was now made, or of which they had heard previously were carried out, the result would be merely to create additional impediments to and conse quently increase the expense of private bill legislation. The discussion was continued by Colonel Patten, Lord Stanley, Mr Lowe, Mr R. Hodgson, Mr It. Dutton, and other memb ere, the balance of opinion being that the exist ing system was very far from perfect and required amend ment. There was not the same concurrence of mind as to the beat method of improving it; for whilst some contended that tl . .e committees on private bills should act as a jury with the, chairman as judge, others advocated the plan of Lord Cecil, and all urged that it was desirable that where great public works ware concerned the members of the corn mitt ee should possess a knowledge of the localities. "Ultimately the motion was withdrawn, a division being impassible without counting out the house, in consequence of 19 members only being present. Mr J. B. SMI EH moved that the increasing trade and commerce of India, and the consequent increasing demand for a portable circulating medium, requires that a gold cur rency should be established in that empire. The hon. gen tleman observed that constant complaints were received from India with regard to the difficulty experienced in in troducing commodities owing to the absence of a convenient circulating medium, and called upon the Government to state what their intentions on the subject were, Colonel SYKES, speaking from his own personal expe rience, said there was no doubt whatever that the natives of India were quite ready to receive Europearr gold coins pro vided they could be assured of their purity. If a gold coin were introduced, made of pure metal, of a certain weight and certain conventional value, the people would take it ; but then the Government must consent to accept it in pay ment of taxes at its market value. Sir C. WOOD admitted that the subject was interesting and important ; but the paper circulation in India had been very successful, and was accepted by those who were en gaged in commerce there. For gold there was little demand, whilst silver and copper circulated extensively. Even if a gold coinage were established, he doubted whether it would be of any great assistance in conducting mercantile opera tions. What the Indian treasuries desired was that the sovereign should be received by them at a particular rate ; and he did not deny that it would be of advantage if the so vereign of England and of the colonies were airculated in India, and that it would be a great accommodation to trade. The value the treasuries wished to place upon the sovereign was 10 rupees ; but the fact was, that the sovereign was worth more than that in the market, and to adopt the stan dard named by the treasuries would involve a considerable sacrifice. He was unable to ascertain what was the value of gold in the markets of India with such certainty as to place any reliance upon it ; but the memorials upon this subject were under the consideration of the Government of India. He could not therefore undertake to give an assur ance of what he was disposed to do until he had received their opinion. After some remarks frcm Mr WATKIN and Mr GOSCIIEN, the motion was withdrawn. EDUCAT lON. In answer to Mr DUNLOP, Mr H. BRUCE stated that the Government, having determined upon issuing a com mission to consider if it were not possible to erect a na tional system of education on the foundation of the old parochial system in Scotland, had come to the conclu,ion to suspend the revised code until the inquiry had been com pleted, provided, however, that it was completed within 12 months. NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. In reply to Mr A. Sxmr, Lord C. PAGET said that the scheme for the organisation of the proposed school of naval architecture had not been concocted by the Admiralty, but by some of the most eminent naval architects in the coun try. The site at South Kensington had been selected for the establishment on account of its economy and eligibility. The house then went into committee of supply. GRANT TO SIR ROWLAND HILL. Her. Majesty's message for granting £20,000 to Sir Row land Hill having been read, Viscount PALMERSTON said—Sir, I trust the house will be disposed, without any objection, to concur in the recommendation of her Majesty which has just been read. (Hear.) Sir Rowland Hill is a man of great genius and great sagacity, and of great perseverance and industry, and who has rendered very important services to this country, and, I may say, to other countries also. Sir R. Hill had observed that the postal department was more a department for the performance of services than a mere department for the collection of revenue ; and,with a boldness which stag. gered a great number of persons who had not looked at the question from the same point of view from which he had regarded it, he recommended a large reduction in the rate of postage, in confidence that in the end it would bring the revenue up to the same amount,seeing that in the meantime it would confer the greatest possible benefit to the commu nity at large. There were grave doubts about it; many people thought that his expectations were too sanguine, that the number of letters would not increase to the extent he had reckoned, and that the revenue would not recover the great shock which the, reduction to a penny would create. These predictions were falsified, and all his cal culations turned out to be correct, (Cheers.) He has for nearly a quarter of a century performed the very ardno as duties which devolved on him in the execution of his scheme. He is now at a time of life when his health can nut be supposed to have withstood the effect of the great labour which attached to his office, and the Treasury, on that ground, have given him permission to retire, and they have done that which I am sure the house will look upon with indulgence —they have given him his full salary for life. (Cheers.) He is now in the 70th year of his age, and his health has been shattered by the labours he has had to per form. Under these circumstances, her Majesty has thought that this house would consider that the great services which Sir Rowland Hill has performed would recommend him for a grant which would enable him to make those arrange ments for his family which the short period during which Providence may permit him to enjoy his retiring pension would otherwise probably not enable him to make. The result of his labours hag really been beneficial beyond that which may strike persons at first sight. It is quite clear that the facility which the penny post has given to all the transactions of commerce, to all the communications con nected with the industry of the country, must have been infinitely advantageous to general industry of the countr j , , and also by that means that the revenue, not of the Pe e t_ office merely, but the revenue which arises out of th e general industry and prosperity of the country. In that point of view he has performed a very great service to the country. But there is another point of view from which his merits should be calculated, namely, the degree of happiness and comfort which his invention —for I may call it an invention.—his plan, has conferred on the poorer classes of the community, upon the millions, and that for a great period of time. When the postage was as high as it was before his plan was introduced, the relatives of poor families who were scattered in differect parts of the country had their communications cut off; for how could a poor labouring man pay 18 or 6d for a letter ? The communications of families were as difficult if not more difficult, than they are now betweeze England and Aus tralia. Well, sir, the cultivation of the affections is a thing that raises men in their, Own estimation, which es their morals and tend to make them u- due raises them in the standing 'they occupy in society. It im ' improves all those qualities which I aay th E , m „ it members of society. Therefore, fact of his pla i t s O Sir Rowland Hill, independently of the are. having contributed to the general prosperity of the cony up r o e n manifested by its having conferred such great bceneflts all the labouring and poorer classes of the C eimmunity, and entitle him to the approbation and the (Cheers) s which this heeme may be disposed to con f er en hi m. the Period befor e hi s p l an came i nto , operation, the number of letters transmitted through the • tphoes number c t o r u a r n s s e m o i f t t t e h d e w y e a ar s 6 ev 4 85 76 millions, while in 1863 3 Millions. Now that is a measure of the degree in which that plan had assisted the industry and contributed to the comfort and happiness of the community in this country. There are various arrange. plan independent of the mere amount of money paid for letters ; among others, the faci orders ments connected with this lity which his arrangements have given for m oney for the transmission of money in small stubs from one pari what an immense advantage of the country to another. In 1838 the amp ef money might be orders at the Post-office was £313,000. In 1863 it was £16,494,000. (Hear, hear.) that must be to the community at large—the facility of safe transmission of small sums which otherwise it very difficult and expensive to transmit. Then there is the book post, wle , eli is greatly to the interests of literature, and is an arrangement which has been most extensively taken advantage of. The gross revenue of the Post-office has increased very greatly, but of course the facilities that have been given have multiplied the number of offices, and therefore naturally increased tho outgoings. But the gross receipts in 1838 were £2,865,000, while in 1863 they were £38,700,900; therefore showing that Sir Rowland Hill was perfectly borne out in reckoning that at no distant period the receipts of the Post-office would recover the diminution which the first introduction of his plan would naturally create. In point of fact, everybody is familiar with the merits of Sir Rowland Hill's plan, and with the good effects it has produced ; and I am persuaded the house will w illingly concur in the proposal which is now made to them. (Cheers,) Ai r W. WILLIAMS disapproved of the grant, on the ground that Sir Rowland Hill had received so liberal a retiring salary. Mr J. EWART cordially concurred in the vote, believing that Sir Rowland Hill had conferred an immense benefit upon commerce. INIr TURNER believed that the whole community of THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 11, 1864. Manchester would be most grateful to the noble lord for this proposal. Mr BAINES said that all the mercantile interests of the country would heartily approve of the vote. Mr CRAWFORD said his constituents in the City of London unanimously declared for the proposal. Mr Malins, Mr Marsh, Mr M. Smith, and Mr Cox like wise strongly supported the motion. Sir F. BARING, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the days when Sir Rowland Hill's plans were sanctioned by Parliament, testified to the great pleasure which he felt at the announcement of the proposal of Government. (Hear, hear.) Mr NEATE, as the private secretary of the right hon. baronet at the period to which he had just adverted, reminded the house that they ought not to forget the part which the right hon. gentleman acted in giving effect to the suggestions of Sir Rowland Hill. (Hear, hear.) Mr HENNESSY asked how it happened that Sir Row. land Hill had never filled other than a subordinate office in the department with which he had been connected ? He ventured to suggest that if there was a place in the Government not directly connected with finance, that ought to have been given to Sir Rowland Hill, that place was the office of Postmaster General. In any other country, per haps, the services of Sir Rowland Hill would have been requited in that manner. Lord PALMERSTON—Sir, there are two very good reasons why I think it would have been no benefit to Sir Rowland Hill to have been made Postmaster General. He would have had no increase of salary while he held the office, and he would have had to go out with the Govern ment. (Laughter.) I just wish to answer one observation made by the hon. gentleman, He said he did not believe the Post-office paid its expenses. Now the net revenue of the Post-office for the year 1863 was £1,793,000, after pay ing expenses. Mr D. GRIFFITH was surprised that the practice had sprung up of appointing peers to an office that was of a strictly commercial and mechanical character, and he wished for information on the subject. Mr J. WHITE said while the noble lord told the house that the Post office paid to the revenue £1,700,000, he had forgotten that the packet service, which cost £1,000,000, was a legitimate charge on the Post-office. We therefore derived only £700,000 from the Post-office. He did not say this in disparagement of Sir Rowland Hill, but he thought the mistake ought not to pass uncorrected. He should cordially support the vote. The vote was then agreed to without a dissentient voice. On the vote of £65,543 for the expenses of the Board of Trade and subordinate departments, Mr A. S3lllll and Mr WILLIAMS complained of the in crease in the estimate. Mr M. GIBSON said the increase arose from a desire to make the department more efficient. It was aleo attributable to the increase of business received by the Board of Trade from the Admiralty in connection with harbours, and to the annual increase of the salaries of the clerks. Several places which were vacant had not been filled up. The increase arose from increased business of the department, and the change of organisation had improved its efficiency. He expressed his belief that it would be a great pity if Admiral Fitzroy's department should be given up, until further experience showed whether it was desirable to continue permanently the expenditure for meteorological purposes. Colonel DICKSON had witnessed the accident at Egham, and had seen two men die from want of some apparatus like tools and ropes to extricate them from the ruins of the crushed carriages. He suggested that such appliances should be a. 4 .tached to all trains. Mr COX moved to report progress. Mr M. GIBSON explained that the powers of the inspec tors were limited ; bnt no doubt the remark of the hon. and gallant member would lead to some such precaution being adopted, The motion to report progress was negatived, and the vote agreed to. The next vote was one of £3,908 to pay the salaries and expenses of the office of Lord Privy Seal. Mr COX said atter twelve o'clock they ought not to pro ceed with supply, and again moved to report progress. The enamittee divided— For the moticn... . Against it 59 Majority The vote was agreed to. The next vote, of £8,741 for the Civil Service Commis sion, was agreed to. £19,491 was next proposed for the Paymaster-General's Department. The vote was agreed to, and the house resumed. The report on Lady Elgin's Annuity was brought up and agreed to, and leave given to found a bill thereon. The report of the Greek Loan of £l,OOO was brought up and agreed to after some discussion, and-leave given to bring in a bill. WEIGHING OF GRAIN (PORT OF LONDON) BILL. Mr CRAWFORD, on resuming the adjourned debate on the second reading of this bill, proposed that if the house agreed to the second reading, he would consent to havo the bill referred to a select committee upstairs. Colonel DICKSON moved the adjournment of the debate. Mr AYRTON supported the amendment. Mr Alderman ROSE was proceeding to address the house in support of the bill, and against the adjournment of the debate, when ➢lr AYRTON rose to order, and directed the attention of the Speaker to the eircumstaage that there wore not forty members present. The right hon. gentleman, having counted the house, ascertained that there were only thirty members present, and so the house stood adjourned at one o'clock. rough calculation. He appears to have ordered everything that he was likely to realize in money. The goods were purchased at the best manufactories, and on very advan tageous terms. I have since paid for all of them except a few trifles. So lately as Saturday last I paid about £3,000 in respect of them. It having come to our knowledge that a quantity of leather of a peculiar kind had been offered for sale to Messrs. Bevington, of Cannon-street, at an ex tremely low price, our suspicions were excited, and my partner wrote to the prisoner on the sth February charging him to observe the greatest caution with regard to the houses with which he dealt, and to have no transactions with any one unless he had a satisfactory reference. Believing the goods offered at such low prices to Messrs. Bevington were some which the prisoner had disposed of to other parties who had not paid for them, the prisoner was directed to go imme diately to Messrs. Bevington's, and to take a lien on them, requesting them at the same time not to pay to the sellers until we ourselves had been paid. Just before that the prisoner had written to us stating he had sold all his goods. It was not from him that we had heard the leather had been offered to Messrs. Bevington at low prices. Up to January last the prisoner had not furnished us with the names of his buyers, and we had then not the least idea that he had sold goods to Lheman or Arend. We expected his customers wouldl have been large respectable houses. lat once came to London, arriving on Feb. 7. I saw the prisoner and spoke to him about the goods offered to Messrs. Bevington. lie replied that the buyers with whom he had dealt always paid him beforehand, and that there was nothing to fear. He explained that the leather had been offered to Messrs. Bevington with the view only of proving that it had not been bought too dearly at Paris. I believe Messrs. Bevington did not buy any of it. On Feb. 8, I learned the names of his buyers from the prisoner. I asked him fore d down a wn n i s at and of Au all his buyers and th e amounts t h ey owed. dozen names, and among th em thoseof t a rend. I m a d e i nqu i r i es, and with those puthml he respect to those two, having been told that they were not worth £2OO, I told him he was not to trust them for any fur ther amount. He said he would not, but at the same time he was sure they would Pay to the last farthing. Hs said he had known Lheman for many years in Paris, that he was very honest, and that M. Devaux, a French banker in Lon don had recommended him. He told me he had seen Lhe man receive £9,000 in exchange for a packet of bills. He said also that Lheman bad introduced him to Arend. He afterwards stated that a man named Leo had introduced him to Arend. I saw Leo outside the police-station when Lheman custody, I had looked a t th e p r i soner ' s b ooks, a w n a d a ,t vn n e din in g to themin a state of the greatest confusion, I employas very difficult to fi n d one i n L on d on, but that a bookkeep er a t once. T he prisoner spoken itw to a B e l g i an whom he knew, and should s rbep h e o gl r gi t e h ell that shortly have him to t d a the advantage of his services. Before returning to Paris I saw Lheman (who is now in custody on a charge of forgery), and told kite it was necessary we should have some settlement of the large amount he owed tut-16,000 or £7,ooo—and that We must draw on him for part of the debt. He said he was a great merchant, that he had sent consignments to different parts of the world, especially the Cape and the Mauritius. He said he had sent many goods to Australia, and that he had written to all parts ask ing for money_ more than £2o,ooo—but that none had yet arrived. He at first objected to our drawing bills upon him, but at last consented that we should do so for £2,000, adding that he would pay the remainder in May. The prisoner was then present, and heard all the conversation. After we had left Lheman's office he said he regretted very much that I had made that arrangement with Lheman, because he was sure I would have been paid the whole debt by the middle of April. This was on the Bth of February, and I gave directions to the prisoner that Lheman was to have no fur therthat time cc h-st cu credit until h e paid wheat he owed. Lh eman was at eying t:eo small rooms on a first floor a t 140 , Fenchcarceet, and I only saw one man there as a clerk, poorly dre",sed. When we name out the prisoner, observing that 1< was not satisfied with his having given such large credit to a person so circumstanced, said I was not tojudge by appearance, for Lheman was a partner itt bno of the first houses in London. The prisoner dfd not afterwards tell me that on that very day, Feb. 8, he had supplied to Lheman £2,128 worth of geodes and on the 11th £796 worth, or nearly £3,000 weal:sin. all, contrary to my express instructions, There is no entry in his book of those goods having been supplied, or any of them. On the 9th I meet Arend at my office in Cheapside, the prisoner observing that he wished to afford me the pleasero of his acquaintance as one of hie principal custom. On that occasion Arend said he bought large quantities of goods of other London houses for con signment, but that he certainly preferred our houses because we were selling him goods on very advantageous terms. (A. laugh.) He added that he was waiting for some silks that had been ordered for him by Mr Werner (the pri soner) from Lyons. These orders were stopped by es at once, and the prisoner blamed 'as very much for having done so. Arend said he had intended to ship the goods to different countries. told him, however, that we could nut sell him any more, and that he must settle his accounts in the same manner as other customers—by bills that we shott!..l draw upon him at once, lie then owed us £5,000 P. £6,000, He promised to accept a bill for £2,000. The day after this interview, though I had told the prisoner not to give Arend credit for a single farthing more, he supplied Arend with goods to the amount of £1,179. On Feb. 14 I returned from Paris, and between that time and the 20th prisoner forwarded to me there acceptances of Arend for £3,000, of Lheman for £3,000, and of a man named Lindner, whom Lheman had recommended to me, for 11,200. Those bills were payable in April, but we returned them to him on Feb. 20, on the ground that we had found it impossible to negotiate them. In an accompanying letter we charged the prisoner not to give credit to Lheman and Co., Arend, or to Lindner for a greater sum than £500; and that to justify risks of considerable sums they must bo incurred only with respectable houses, well• established, and whose acceptances we should find no difficulty in negcciating. On Feb. 23 the prisoner wrote us a letter, in which he said " I am going to tell you what I have done. Arend has plenty of money, but he does not wish to pay any yet. His reason is that he wants some more hoods, and seeing clearly that we dont wish to give him more credit he does not see why he should pay. Lheman says the same. They all reply thus to my questions, Do you think we have thousands of pounds sterling to give you every time you ask ?' For the future I will conform in all parts to your instructions, and as re gards the present 1 close the credit with these men." That letter was written by the prisoner on Feb, 23, and betwen Feb. 27 and March 8 he supplied Arend, unknown to us, with £7,000 worth o f goo d s. On the 15t h or 16 th of March I returned to L on d on. and had all the pr i soner ' s books made up by an accountant. I found that Lheman was indebted to U 3 to the amount of £12,000, though the prisoner's books only sh owe d from £B,OOO to £lO, OOO . A s soon as I arrived I told th e pr i soner that I wante d to see if Lheman could pay hi s bi l l for £2,000 d ue on th e 2d of April. He said Lheman had positively pro mised to ray him from £4,000 to £o,ooo in a few days. The day the prisoner told me that I received a letter from our hous e in Paris stating that a gentleman named Devaux to had called there and sa id t h at Lheman was not a bl e meet his bill. I after war d s saw Lheman, when h e sa id he could not pay, but if 1 wou ld renew the till unt il th e 2d of June he would meet it then. I did nut accede to that re quest, and told;him h e must g i ve us security f or the sum he owed us, upon whi c h h e opened his iron ches t , andtook out a lot of bills of e xc h ange for about £B,ooo,which handed to me, and whi c h I h ave s i nce foun d t o be worth and he less. The bills have now b een paid, thoug h ove Lheman still owes me £1 2,000. He is now on a charge of utteri ng fi ve of these bill s, smote £4,393 odd, knowing th em to b e forge d . Mr Lewis applied t o h ave t h e pr i soner re manded, .ob serving that his client, M. Tanco A-mer°' in instituting of getting this prosecution had n o t th e s li g h tes t ex pectation a single shilling of hi s money bac k , an d that inating he was solely to custody protection of commerc e . said he hoped on a Mr Wontner, jun., f or th e p r i s oner, in animated by public c ons id era ti ons , having regard to the future occasion to be a bl e t o g i ve an entirely different co plexion to this matter. Mr Alderman Hale, repl)ing that it would be up-hill work, remanded the prisoner, and peremptorily refused to entertain an application to admit bim to bail inthe interim. Crystal Palace—Projected Thames Tunnel Railway. exclusive of the c orn •• From evid ence g i ven yester day by Mr Bowley.'gen era l manager of the C r y s t a l P a l a ce, before Lord Stanley's com mittee, it app eare d t h at t h e pa lace had been opened (on th e had prev i been ous day) visii e e d x b a y e tllys,t2e6n6,y9eja.2rps e c s t o h n a s t , during th a t per i o d i t pany's staff, exhibitors, and their assistants, &c., which would have brought the numbers up to nearly seventeen millions and a half. Mr Bowley's evidence also went to show that although there had been a considerable increase in the population of the north-east of London, according to the last census, it had been much larger in the southern districts. He in stanced Penge as having, between 1851 and 1861, increased 329 per cent., Sydenham 135 per cent., and Plumstead and Charlton 150 per cent., &c. Mr Bowley's evidence further went to show that a junc tion between the north and south of London, east of Lon don-bridge—suc's as was proposed by the Tunnel line _was an absolute necessity; and that it would be a great boon to the inhabitants of the poorer districts lying to the north and north-cast of the metropolis. It also transpired in evidence, that in addition to the pre sent communication with the palace via Kensington, Vic toria, and Lond on -b r id ge s t a tions, that the hi g h l eve l line now forming i n f ront o f t h e palace would be open f or t raffic by the Ist of M a y next year, when, by arrangeme n t w i t h the South-Eastern Railway and other companies, direct access to the palace would also be had from Blaceriars, C annon . street, Charing-cross, and whole the system of main lines of the:South-Eastern and South-Western companies. _ _ Mr Bawley p o i nted out to t h e comm itt ee th at the promo. tion of these lin es an d j unc ti o ns had very r.uch occupied his attention duri ng t h e pas t s ix years, and th a t h e regarded the formation of t h e presen t p r oposed lin e , crossing the river by means of th e Th ames Tunnel,:as:th e completion of a perfect system o f metropo lit a n and provincial coramunica. Lion with the Cry s t a l P a l ace , a nd that by those means all the great lines would have direct access to it, and the in cenvenieneo of the present termini both in London and at the Crystal Palace might be obviated, and any number of persons might visit the palace on crowded days in comfort and safety. Naval and Military Intelligence, THE NAVY. 1 On Thursday Mr. IL C. E. Childers, M,P., the newly appointed Lord of the Admiralty, accom panied by Mr. H. W. R. Walker, paid his first official visit of inspection to Chatham Dockyard, at which establishment he was occupied several hours in the examination of the labour system of accounts and returns inaugurated by Mr. Stansfeld, and which ;since its introduction has been attended with the most satisfactory results. Mr Childers also spent some time in a survey of the dockyard extension works, in progresss at St. Mary's Island, and like wise inspected the new barracks in teurse of erec tion by Messrs. Foord and ions, for the Royal Marines, Mr Rie , ete, the Admiralty clerk of works at Chatham, accompanying his lordship during his 1 tour of inspection. The operation of testing, by means of hydraulic pressure, the engines, boilers, condensers, and other portions of the machinery of the iron-plated frigate Achilles, 35, 1,250. horse power, took place at Chatham on Wednesday, on the occasion of Rear- Admiral J. It. Drummond, C. 8., one of the Lords of the Admiralty, Rear-Admiral S. Robinson, Con troller, Mr, Reed, Chief Constructor, and other officials, making an inspection of the vessel. The trials were under the direction of Mr. Wigzell, who represented the firm of Messrs. John Penn and Sons, the makers of the engines, and were most severe, the boilers and engines being tested to a pressure of 401 b, and the condensers to 25!b to the square inch, at which not the slightest defect could be discovered. Admiral Drummond, together with the Controller and Chief Constructor, spent a considerable time on board the Achilles in the inspection of that vessel, which, in consequence of the amount of work still remaining to be completed, will not be ready to pro ceed to sea for some three months to come. The entertainment on board her Majesty's ship Victory, referred to in The Sun of Wednesday, was not girca by the officers of that ship. The hosts 1 were the captain, Francis Scott, C. 8., and Mrs. Scott, who o n th e occas i on entertained nearly 400 1 of their friends, The following appointments have been made at the Admiralty —W C Forrest, nominated to a naval cadetship; E. B. D'Arcy, second master, additional, to the Boscawen for the Ferret; W. S. Chambre, master's assistant, to the Fog; H. Knight, engineer, to the Fisgard for the Laudrail ; James Dalton, en gineer, to the Hawke tor the Tenders; John Crew, supernumerary in the Asia, promoted to first class assist, engineer; and William J. Ray, acting second class assist. engineer, to the Asia, as supernumerary. THE ARMY. A general order has been received at the Royal Engineer establishmer t, Chatham, from the Morse Guards, in which the Duke of Cambridge directs that the issue of the metal gabions of Capt. Tyler's and Quartermaster Jones's patterns is to be discon tinued until further orders. This order has been given in consequence of its having come to the knowlcgc of the Field Marshal Commanding-in- Chief that particles of iron from each of the above descriptions of gabions were scattered with such force into the interior of the battery at some recent experiments with 12-pounder field-guns against em brasures lined with tele metal gabions as to mani fest clearly that gabions of those patterns are inap propriate for that particular application in rivetting embrasures, traverses, and other places exposed to direct fire. Orders have been received at Chatham garrison for the first detachment of volunteers of the Royal Engineers for service in India to embark at Graves end on Tuesday next, the 14th inst., for Madras, to replace the late East India Company's Engineers, who have been broken up. The men selected for this service have been taken from the depot and other companies at headquarters, and the whole are complete in their surveying and field-work instruct tion. The detachments for Calcutta and Bombay will embark early in the ensuing month, A circular memorandum, addressed to the army at home, has been promulgated from the Horse Guards, stating that the appointment of Professor of Military History and Art at the Staff College is vacant ; and that the Field Marshal Commanding in• Chief desires that commanding officers will send not later than the 10th July next, the applications of such officers as feel themselves qualified for the situation. The ship Middlesex, 1,191 tons, one of Mr George Marshall's London fl:et, Capt. C. Caramel!, R.N.R., arrived at Spithead early yesterday morning from Calcutta and St. Helena, with the following troops and passengers on board—Major-General Carmichael Smith, lady, and two children ; Capt. Martin, 38th Foot (in charge of troops on board), Mrs. Martin, and three children; Capt. Dagleish, 71st Highlanders; Lieut. Brydges, R. A,, Mrs. Brydges, child, and native servant; Lieut. Co wburn, 52d Regiment; Lieut. Dobbins, 6th Europeans, Mrs. Dobbins and two children; Surg. Bogle, M.D., Her Majesty's Indian army, in medical charge of troops on board ; two Misses Sages and Mr. Thomp son ; 6 sergeants, 119 rank and file, and 1 drummer, with 6 women and 28 children invalided from various regiments serving in India. Three men, time ex pired, with one woman and four children, embarked at St. Helena. Five invalided soldiers, two women, and one child died during the voyage home. The Middlesex sailed from Calcutta on the 18th of Fe bruary, and from St. Helena on the 25th of April. Since leaving the latter place she has experienced a succession of light winds, chiefly from the eastward. On the ship's arrival at Spithead being notified at the Quartermaster-General's office at Portsmouth yester day morning the necessary steps were at once taken by the preseat indefatigable Assist.. Quartermaster- General, Col. L. Shad well, lor their disembarkation, and by 2 p.m. the invalids were received at the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, the time-expired men in quarters on shore at Ports mouth, and the ship under way at Spithead, re suming her voyage for London to discharge a large general cargo she has on board from Calcutta, The Metropolitan Board of Works. The usual weekly meeting of this board was held yester terday, at the offices in Spring -gardens. The President, J. Thwaites, Eeq., took the chair at twelve o'clock. PINANcE. The cash statement for the current week shows a total general balance of £167,243 6s 4d. THE PROPOSED NEW ROAD FROM TOTTENHAM -COURT- ROAD TO CHAXDOS-STREET. A report was brought up from the streets committee recommending that the proposition of the Hampstead, &c., Railway Company, to limit the formation of the proposed street, from Tottenham court-road to Chandos-street, be acceded to, provided the company construct the street 60 feet wide, and widen B uckingham -street from the Strand to Duke-street, to 30 feet, and undertake to pay a sum to be agreed upon, for any land, or interest in land, on, over, or connected with the embankment, which the company may require. The recommendation of the committee was, after some discussion, adopted. REPORT PROM THE THAMES E MBANKMENT COMMITTEE. A report was sent up from this committee, stating that they had received the following offer from the Metropolitan District Railway Company, viz. :—That they should be allowed to construct their railway from the commencement of the embankment at Westminster to Cannon-street, in the City, under the proposed embankment and new street, upon payment to this board of £300,000; the board to pay all compensation involved directly or indirectly by reason of the construction of the embankment and railway between the above-mentioned places, but to bo allowed to construe t their low level sewer from Cannon•street to Great Tower street, under the intended railway, without paying any com pensation to the company ; and recommending—that the offer be not acceded to, and that the solicitor be instructed to take all necessary steps for sustaining the principle of the payment by the railway company to this board of the sum of £500,000. for the right of constructing their line along the Thames embankment and that portion of the new street between Blaokfriars-bridge and Cannon-street; the railway company to pay a ll compensat i on to the City G as Company and other p ar ti es whose property may be affected by any a lt erat i on in the embankment works, consequent upon the construction of the company's line along the em bankment, and to d e f ray th e cost of all alterat i ons an d di versions of sewe rs an d other works rendered necessary by the construction of the railway and other works in connec tion th erew i t h , and agreeing to enter into such arrangements as may be satisfactory to the Board, for indemnifying them against any liabilities which may arise from any alteration in the contracts entered into for the construction of the Thames emankment works, agreeably to the terms of Mr Fowler's letter addressed to the engineer of the board, and dated April 20, 1864. The recommendation of the committee was adopted. After disposing of the routine business the board ad journed. CHARGE OF CONSPIRACY, Yesterday Ernile Werner, a Frenchman, aged 27, residing at Richmond, and who had been arrested on a warrant, was brought before Alderman Hale at the Justice-room of the Mansion-house, charged with conspiring with others to de fraud Messrs Legrand, Tanco, and Co., bankers and men. chants in Path, of goods of the value of from £25,000 to £30,000. Gustave Lheraan, one of the persons with whom the prisoner is accused of conspiring, is now in custody on a charge of forging bills of exchange to the amount of £4,300 and upwards, under circumstances which were partly stated in evidence at the Mansion-house poliee-court on Wednes day, and one Arend and others not in custody are the other parties alleged to be implicated in the charge of Conspiracy, Mr Lewis, jun., conducted the examination, having first related the circumstances u con spiracy wa s preferred, 7 21 et. which the ch arge of ak they were aft erwar d s proved in evidence. Th e p ar ti P,, he said, accused both of the alleged conspiracy and of the forgeries, w ere a ll f ore i gners, and the case against t'l io prisoner Werner had this peculiar aggrava tion, that ' re was a confidential servant of the firm whom he Wa s ar -eused of conspiring to defraud. He acted as their ag",nt i n L on d on for the sale of merchandise, principally silks, in whi c h capac i ty he received a salary of £2OO, with a commission, whi c h p ro b a bl y i ncrease d it to £6OO or £7OO. His principals were persons of long standing and great respecta bility in the city of Paris, and they had given him almost unlimited power to purchase goods for them in the French markets, but had charged him, under no circumstances, to dispose of thorn in London to any but houses of established repute, or 'without consulting certain gentlemen of commer cial eminence in the City of London whom they named, and to whom they themselves had been long known. Mr Lewis then, in some detail, stated the manner in which the prisoner was alleged to have lent himself, in spite of those injunctions, to defraud his employers in a couple of months of that large amount of property, acting for that purpose with persons whom he designated as swindlers, and who had afterwards sold part of it at 50 per cent. less than the invoice price, and had pledged the rest with money changers. He adverted to the importance of such a case to a commercial community like that of the city of London, and he bespoke the earnest attention of the Bench to the circumstances which would be given in evidence. Mr Nicolas Tanco Arturo, whom ho called, said—l am one of the firm of Legrand, Tanco, and Co., of 11, Rue Bergere, Paris, bankers and merchants. In May, 1863, the prisoner Werner was introduced to me in Paris, and very highly recommended by an old established holm, and we engaged him to act as our agent iu London, at a salary of from 4,000 f. to 5,000 f., besides a commission of 1 per cent. on the sales he effected, and the payment of all expenses connected with the trade. We took an office in Cheapside, and I directed him to proceed to London, to take with him samples of all our different commodities and goods, princi pally silks, and to endeavour to trade with some of the best houses, a list of which was handed to him. Before trans mitting orders, however, to us, he was to consult with a few respectable firms in the city to whom we introducel him as to the commercial standing and respectability of the parties. I presented him myself to some of those houses for that especial purpose. We told him, moreover, that he was to send us a monthly report of his sales and accounts, and to keep his accounts by double entry, and in other respects according to the usages of commerce. Between May and December of last year the poisoner did very little business. I requested him by letter in December to furnish us with an account of his operations. He came to Paris in the begin ning of January last, and represented to me that business had begun to be promising, and that he had come with two buyers connected with respectable houses in London. I asked him to introduce them to me as I wanted to see them, but he de clined, on the ground that they were busy, and could not com e to our office- Ho did not then tell me who they were. I had not asked their names. In the beginning of February last I came to London, and the prisoner then told me they b D u e s c i e n m e s b s e boor required a: l z h were M. Lheman and M. Arend. I directed him to inquire as to their solvney. When he called on me in Paris in t e o said h a v thatin a r order t to ek in increase hand the iin London all through the year, and that he must have it be fore th e spring, as the London " season" would begin then. In January I gave him directions to go to Lyons and Switz - erland to purchase silk goods. He went, and there and in Paris he bought goods on our account to the amount of from £25,000 to £30,000. He had unlimited power to buy. Those goods were all sent to our office in Cheapside, and before they could have arrived the prisoner, as our agent there, was disposing of them as fast as possible. They consisted of silks principally, of the value of about £16,000, about £2,000 worth of plush, some £2,000 worth of leather, and cotton goods to the amount of about £6,000. That is a SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, TIMES.—When Lord telanricarde aoserted, in Thursday's debate, that if a stop had been put to the export of men from this country to the Federal States the American war would have been stopped also, he said no more than has been repeatedly said by President Davis himself, and other officers of the Southern Government, Nothing has appeared harder or more inequitable to the Confederates than that we should allow their enemies to import soldiers for the war; and if we look at the actual course of affairs we shall have no difficulty in under standing the feelings of the Southern people. They were largely outnumbered to begin with, eve❑ if Ameticana only had been matched against Amelia cans, without the introduction of foreign troops. This disparity, however, they have compensated by their greater unanimity, their stronger convictions, and superior !military aptitudes; but whereas one of the best chances in their favour consisted in the probable exhaustion of their adversary, they see or believe themselves deprived of this hope by the arrival of mercenaries from neutral States to relieve their native enemies of the work of war. We have only to look at President Lincoln's Proclamations and at the successive threats of conscription to see that of all commodities in America men are now the most valuable, and yet it is with these that we, a neutral nation, heve been constantly supplying the stronger belligerent of the two. All this makes the soreness of the South and the dissatisfaction of many persons in this country perfectly intelligible; but we are convinced, nevertheless, that the importance of the alleged facts have been greatly overesti mated, and that even if the case were otherwise it would not invite that violent remedy which Lord Clanricarde does not hesitate to suggest. The Federals, as we believe, can have obtained but an insignificant portion of their fighting men from these islands, and if they obtained twice the number we could not reasonably make it, under the circumstances a case of war. It was but yesterday that we published come Amerie can statistics purporting to give an authentic account of the levies made for the service of the Federal armies from 1861 to the spring of the pre sent year, and exhibiting a total of more than 2,000,000 men, or about 700,000 for each year since the commencement of the war. .We have no reason to doubt the accuracy of these figures, but, as they only profess to represent the "calls," and not the numbers which the " calls" produced, we might probably be justified in making some abatement from the amount. Still, if we look to the returnsof Grant's army recently furnished by our correspondent, and remember that this forCe is only one of three large armies actually in the field, exclusive of numerous garrisons, we shall be led to the conclusion that the numbers enlisted must have approximated pretty closely to the numbers called for, or such enormous hosts could never be maintained. Grant had under his own command in the main body of the army of the Potomac 218,000 men ; his colleagues Butler and Sigel had, respectively, 35,000 and 30,000 ; as many as 10,000 cavalry were engaged on special duties, and 28,000 negroes had been armed and equipped for such service as they could render. These blacks were attached to the armies of Grant and Burnside, but Gen. Butler had also a certain portion under his command. Altogether, however, it does not appear that more than 30,000, or at the utmost 35,000, of these auxiliaries catered into the composition of the army, so that least 280,000 white soldiers were supplied from some source or other for Grant's forces aione. Bearing this in mind, let the reader observe what the Emigration Commissioners have just reported of the events of last year. It was in Ireland that Federal enlistments were supposed to be most actively prosecuted, and from Ireland it was thought that the great body of recruits was drawn. But the total emigration from Ireland to America during the year 1863 gives but 94,477 souls, and of these but 36,083 were single men, even if we reckon in that class boys of 12 years old. It is obvious, t herefore, that the Commissioners in calculating at 25,000 the number of possible recruits for the North ern armies have pushed the estimate as far as it could be carried, and what, we ask, are 25,000 men among the immense totals of the Federal demand P We do not know that all these men, or even the halt of them, actually enlisted, We only know that this was the whole number of likely subjects for enlist• went, whereas 360,000 men at the least must have been enrolled in 1863 before the Federal armies could have been raised to the strength in which they have taken the field this year. We readily admit that a contingent of 20,000 or even 10,000 men would be extremely valuable, and, what is more, the very knowledge and prospect of this supply would encourage the North in its resolution to con tinue the war; but with such figures as we have hid before us it is impossible to assume that either Irish or German immigrants have formed, up to the present tirne, any large element in the American armies. E•ghty per cent. of these troops must have been Americans, either native or naturalised. Lord Clanricarde tells a very different story of the emi gration going on at this minute, but such are the returns for 1863. The fact is that the sustainable points against the Federals lie in a very small cam -1,9 It is easy to understand what they have been doing. Pressed for men, and casting about in every quarter for recruits, they have not only made what they could cut of Irish emigration, but have done their best to encourage it. 'We may take it for granted that they have sailed pretty near the wind, and that what their agents have now and then done was what we should have been disposed to stop. But who is to gainsay the arguments available for the purpose? If it is an nounced that men are greatly wanted in America, that labour is excessively scarce, and wages incre dibly high, who can deny the facts ? It it is added that the men are not wanted for soldiers, but to supply the place of those who become soldiers, who can dispute the statement ? And if, when the emi grants have sailed on these representations and with these prospects, they, nevertheless, do take service in the Federal armies, who can say that they had no right to change their minds? These aro the cir cumstances which render interference almost im practicable. We can only act when there is a plain case for action, and that is what we have done. It is beyond denial that the recruiting agents in Ame rican ports have seized upon certain emigrants on their arrival and have forced them into the ranks of the army. The unfortunate creatures were enticed across the Atlantic by the promise of good employ ment, and kidnapped by crimps as soon as they landed. But these proceedings have formed the ground of strong protests on the part of our Minister at 'Washington, and they have not been justified by the United States Government. For the rest there was really no difference of opinion between the speakers on Thursday evening. Lord Brougham and Lord Russell spoke of the war itself exactly as Lord Clanricarde did, and it has now been made sufficiently notorious that the provisions of interna tional law combine to give extraordinary 'advantages to one of the belligerents. But this is merely an accident of national position. What the South most wants cannot be lawfully supplied, and that the North can get all it desires without infraction cf law or usage. This state of things is very fortunate for the Federals, and very unfortunate for the Con federates, but it cannot be helped. We can only apply the law es it stands. We can supply either belligerent with munitions of war, and we do so. We cannot supply either with ships of war, and so the belligerent needing ships of war fares the worse for the prohibition. We can prevent enlistment in this country, but we cannot prevent the emigra tion of men who may enlist as soon as they get across the ocean. If the Southern ports were open, the Confederates might receive these importations as well as the Federals, but the blockade de's prices them of the chance. All this enables the North to obtain far more from our neutrality than the South, but the result was unavoidable. It is not due to favour or to partiality, but to accident alone. We can only stop such proceedings as are illegal — that is to say, in the instance before us, enlishment only, and not emigration. If emigration ends in enlistment afterwards, that is an event beyond our control. POST.—We doubt if any person ever was present at the proceedings of one of those numerous eom mittees appointed by the House of Commons to investigate the merits of some new project for cutting a canal or constructing a railway, or carryi n g ou t some other scheme requiring the sanction of the Legislature, without being thoroughly convinced that a more costly, a more cumbrous, and a more unsatisfactory method of attaining a given end could not have been devised by the wit of man. A number of gentlemen, selected by chance from the mass of our elective legislators, without possess ing any but the most superficial knowledge of the rules of evidence, profoundlyi;n on orantwhofichthethde t a ils of the merits of the project will be called upon to expres s an opinion, meet after day, hear everythi ng wh i ch can be en da rge e i d ; either in favour of or against the proposed scheme, strike a b a l ance b etween conflict ianngd, finay, interests, ll and seek to do substantial jus tice by recording their approval or disapproba ethnetirrelmeasure before th em . Th eore tic a lly quire int o its suppos e d t o b e su b m i tte d t o th e ect is House; but in practic e th e committee in merits, and, having made their report, the former, in the generality of eases, confirms it. The entire theory of investigation by Parliamentary committees proceeds upon the assumption that, as it is in the hands of Parliament that the power resides of sanctioning or rejecting all schemes which in their execution affect largely the interests of the public, it is indispensable that members of the Legislature should themealves personally investi- gate their merits: When, for example, a railway project is submitted by its promoters to Parliament, the House of Commons is ready to accept the report made by a select number of its members who have investigated the evidence adduced before them in reference to the probable results of sanctioning the acherne, whereas it will not act upon the °pillion,: of men perhaps better fitted than its own mem ber s ' to determine the point rte issue. Whether the assumption on which this practite is based is one which is reasonable, and whether the practice is rm. itself an 4 nrtive to the interests of the public„l , large, were the points raised by Lord R. Cec" motion legit evening. This is not the first occasion on which the expediency of this singular adjunct o fa our legislative system has been brought under notice of the House of Commons, it having alree s Y furnished subject-matter for consideration to n: special meeting. Th e re p or t of this committee w° published A short time since ; and the resolution the member for Stamford was ostensibly couched i accordance with the g e ne ra l t eno ur of that repor t. There are two points of view from which the ma' rem garded, of Parliam e nt ar y comm ittees may be r" garded, namely, in refe rence t o it s bearing on t he' l interests of the public, and on those of members e ,; Parliament. Regarded i n th e f orm er light, lebtL . ; R. Cecil condemned the system as failing to atts . the ends for which it was established ; regarded in the latter, he equally disapproved of it as imposing upon private members a great and unneccessarY amount of labour. Dismissing for the moment the consideration of the former class of objections, it Is unquestionable that of late years private Parliatneb t tary business has increased to an extent which ren' ders the office of member of Parliament sometbi 4 far different from that easy sinecure which the larg e majority of the public believe it to be. Of the busi ness transacted in the committee rooms the country learns nothing, and not a few suppose that feria' torial duties consist in little else than being Pr e ; sent in " the House" o n th e occas i on o f i m portan t divisions. The fir s t o f th e o bj ect i ons ta k en by ' , Ol d R. Cecil to the pr esen t system reste d upon th e ground that, ds the public business of Parliamen t was, to say the least of it, o f as i mpor t an t a natur e as that which, for the sa k e o f di st i nct i on , is terme dprivate, it was indi s p ensa bl e to i ntro d uce such mods fications as would enable th e mem b ers o f th e W i t of Commons to di sc h arge t h e f ormer as we ll a s t he latter class of duties. That, under the existing sY e ; tern, the public business is neglected, he averr"`: was demonstrated by th e p auc i ty o f the asten dabe" at the evening sittings of the House, and the ' ll ‘ creasing frequency of " countseout." To the gene, ral modus operandi of Parliamentary committees h.° raised those objections which have again and agat e been advanced, and w hi c h , i t must b e con f e ssfd have never been satisfactorily answered. The ' EI ; competency of the tribunal, the unreasonable cos t incurred by the proceedings, the manifest inte res t , which every one professional'y engaged before such committees has in protracting the inquiry, and t he wearisome, and not unfrequently irrelevant, na tu re of the details elicited, were all in turn cited as f ury nishing the most cogent reasons for reforming t he present mode of investigation by Parliamentary eel mittees. 'The evils, to say the truth, are transpar e nt enough, enough, and their demonstration was a matter 0 1 great difficulty ; but unfortunately the remedy by which Lord R. Cecil proposed to eradicate them e r h ; pears by no me ans so we ll ca l culated to effec t t' proposed end as it s sangu i ne or i g i nator was w il li n g °e to believe. With th e f un d amental pr i nciple t hat t h e House of Common s must i n t h e last resort j u dge the expediency or oth erw i se o f sanction i ng thes miscellaneous project s w hi c h are embodied in .Pit. vate bills, Lord R. Cecil did not propose to interfer e ; he merely suggested th a t a l arge mass of the fac t s on which, under the p resent mode of prccedure,' s Parliamentary commit tee i s called upon to dee ie l might be determin e d by arbitrators or seie e pt e l b, witnesses appointed by th e promoters o f, a n t , jectors to, the m easure su b m i tted to Parliament Although, however, the member for Stamford wa s able to cite from ex p er i ence examples or cases in is which committees had b een occup i e d f or daYe t ; e , determining facts whi c h m i g h t, b y the mode proposed, have e as il y an d expeditiously been 'ea; tided, he was unable to give the house any idea the manner in which i n f uture those facts s hould be left for the decision of arbitrators or experts. Nor ought the di ffi culty to h ave occasioned h im any surprise, if he reflected that a Parliamen tary committee virtually exer c i ses t h e f unc tions o f a jury; that everything submitted for its cons idered. ) . n is purely a qu es ti on o f f act ; and that i t wo uld b e just es impossible to determine beforehand by any fixed rules wh a t quest i ons a committee shou ld refer, to e eola arbitation as to define what facts a ury take or granted because particular witn j esses ch ose to depose to th e m. Th e quest i on, after a ll, as .„T.r • Milner Gibson pointed out, resolves itself into this: Is the subject matter of a railway scheme, or soon similar project, to be investigated by the House of Commons or not ? If the latter, then the house abandons to some other tribunal its legislative fund' tions, but if the former, then a Parliamentary corn' mittee must itself sift the evidence upon which it bases its recommendations, Private bill legislation is simply law-making of en exceptional kind, and law making must, under all circumstances, be a laborious task. The legislator cannot consistently delegate his duties to another. But although scheme such as that suggested by Lord R. Ci-e" cannot be adopted, many important reforms Intl with case be effected in the present system. Th e expense attendant on Parliamentary ir quiries is a gross public scandal; and w. think that, if some means were adopted by which the cost of these in vest:gations was materially diminished, Parliaeoen' tary agents and counsel would do their work more expeditiously; and thus much profitless labou r would be saved to those whose duty it is to sit oa Parliamentary committees. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL —FRIDAY. There was a very poor attendance to-day of the to and country trade, and both wheat and flour met with small business, at ld to 2d per cental and 6d per barrel au , sack lower on th e wee k. I n di an corn met a f a i r col:1003Pa tiveinquiry at 3d per qr decline. Beans were scarce, TP, O advanced fully 6d per qr. Barley and peas unchange d d price, but steady. O a t s an d oatmeal are both dul l, 812 the turn lower, STAMFORD—FRIDAY. White wheat, 40s to 44s ; red, 38s to 40s per 36 st°lle. . Barley, malting, 32 s t o 348; grinding, 26s to 2 8 s per ,1 Oats, 18s to 22 s p er 24 stone. Beans, old, 348 to 6° }err qr. ; new, 36s to —s. LINCOLN—FRIDAY. 3 " White wheat new, 4013;to 436 Barley, grinding.. . 5 6 3 to to 2 94 Red do. 37s to 40s Oats, o ld, .. ...... 253 2 3 6 Old white Red do. s'to —s / Beans. .., .28, to 360 Barley, malting.... 32k;to 34s / Beans, new 348 to WAKEFIELD—FRIDAY. The wheat trade wa s d u ll to-day, with only a reta i l bUsi 0' ness, factors not b e i ng disposed to make any reateria.c cession in prices. Beans and oats were rather dearer. Averages for the WOCIC : Wheat 2,075 qrs., at 42s 3 1 a Rye — 8ar1ey......... 49 _.3l s 6d Oats ..... 8 Od Beans — 34s 3 d Peas .... 100 CORK—THURSDAY. • Re a The following were the qu o t a ti ons th i s morning 7g wheat, 8s Od to Ss 10d ; white, 8s Od to 0$ Sd , ld to Os Od ; oats, fis 4d to 6s 7d ; black do., 5s " t 5s Bd. Persons in debt may obtain instant protection agains t imprisonment or seizure of their goods, and an entire release from all debts and liaLilities without publicity, by application easlments. to Messrs. Marshall, solicitors of the insta Court of Bankruptcy. Charges under £5 payable by y Offices (established 1830), 12,IIatton-garden, City branch -6, Moor gate-street, Bank.—AnyT. Births. FonTEscrz.—On the 9th inst., at 17, Bruton-street, the C ou ntess Forteseue, of a daughter, HEAD.—On the 9th inst., at 6, Park-road, Stoke Newil l r ton, Mrs. Henry Heaa, of a son. KING.—On the 9th inst., at 37, Seymour-street, Euston, square, Mrs. Henry King, of a daughter. SAPTE.—On the S t h i nst., at Clayton Wickham, ,T, Wits of Captain Sapte, of is son. HENEAGE.—HABE.—O n th e 9th i ns t at St. Marriages. Georg e . fa Hanover-squ are , Ed war d H eneage , E sq. , l a te Ist the Guards, of Hainton Hall, Lin c ol ns hi re , e ldest sell °` late George Fiesche Heneage, E s q., t o the Lady V e t, - t Hare, daughter of the Countess and sister to the P Earl of Listowel. SULLIVAN.—CORMAC.— On the Bth inst., by special license, Michael Sullivan, Esq., M.P., of Lachan county Kilkenny, to Margaret Sabina, daughter of t'" late Thomas Cormac, Esq,, of the city of Kilkenny Deaths. BROOKS.—On the 7th inst., at Whalley House, WhaVerf Range, Manchester, Samuel Brooks, Esq., b 4ll1 -a. ' aged 71. HODGKINSON —On the 9th inst., at Warlinghara , Croydon, Dame Ellen, the wife of Sir George,Edr ag " Hodgkinson. KINCHANT.—On the Bth inst., at his residence, Park 1 1811 ' near Oswestry, Richard Menry Kinchant, and Deputy Lieut ena nt of the county of Salop, aged `'. n t LESLIE.—On the Bth inst., at 2, Abercorn - places S tie John's-wood, Harriett Jane, eldest daughter of th e O. R. Leslie, Esq., R.A., aged 36. SwAßEy.—On the 9th inst., at Langley Marish, Buck' Maurice Swabey, Esq., aged 80. SMITH.—On the Bth inst., at 23, Abbey-road, wood, Edward Smith, sq., aged 83. St. John's' London: Primed and PrWished by IVILLIA. II ANDREI' S _ ' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office No. Os! Strand, In the Precinct of the Savoy, n the Conn , / ° I Blildleaex,—,saturdAy, Julie 11,18(3*.